If It Means A Lot To You
by ohsnapples
Summary: Story containing one shots. 3- It's been years since Cloud left Nibelheim to make a name for himself; He didn't think he would find the girl he left back in Nibelheim.
1. The Swan

_(A.N) Hello all! So, I decided to make a place where I can put all my one shot drabbles and stories and I thought now would be a perfect time to put these up since summers coming and all. Forgive me for all the mistakes or how chopy it sounds, I wrote this about a year ago and I did all I could to make it sound better xD These one shots will be mixed up between my sister and myself. You will either see that it was either 'By J.' or 'By K.' K usually writes all the stories that you'll see on my page and I edit them so it's a team effort. _

**_Disclaimer: Nothing from Final Fantasy belongs to me._**

**The Swan**

_By J._

She was a swan.

A symbol of grace, purity and elegance.

He was an insect.

Nothing but an annoyance. No matter how many times he was swiped at he managed to escape death.

A swan and an insect never were put in the same category.

The insect watched as the swan went on with her business. Occasionally she would glance his way, but the gaze never lingered. She was far too busy to pay attention to such an irritation. He watched as she made idle conversation with other animals at the watering hole. The good looking alpha-males would puff their chests and act bigger than they actually were. And the entire time the swan knew of their intentions. The insect watched her too many times and he just knew when she was bluffing. As she would glide away she would grin to herself, thinking of how ridiculous the men sounded. Each time she smiled he felt something come alive in him.

He was in love with the swan.

The way she cared for the children that weren't even hers and somehow was able to make all of them a family made his heart long for her. If he even _had_ a heart.

The swan brought him out of his daze. "Is something wrong?" She was always concerned over him. He didn't understand it.

He shook his head slightly, not wanting to admit that he wanted her more then she could ever know. And she didn't. Not one bit. He wanted to tell her, so many times that his heart ached because he knew that there was no way that she would return his feelings. Although, he had a chance two years ago when they were chasing the shark all around the planet. But he was thick headed and unwilling to see what was right in front of him and made him lose that chance.

She could have been his.

But she wasn't.

And she would never be.

That night the insect watched as the swan left the watering hole and went towards her nest. But before that she checked on the kids, making sure they were completely safe in their beds before moving on. She stopped short when she realized that he was in front of her. It shocked him that he was in front of her so abruptly as well, he hadn't planned it but the only thing he could feel at this moment was his heart bursting for her.

_Tell her you love her. _

He couldn't do that. It would ruin the relationship they already had.

_Say anything. _

"I envy you." He finally said, her head cocked in confusion then she smiled softly, as if he was telling a joke. "You're a swan. A creature that is loved, that's beautiful." He ducked his head down slightly. "I am nothing but an insect. A nuisance, a disturbance."

Her mouth opened slightly in shock. "I don't see you like that at all." She paused, thinking. "You're a wolf. A strong and loyal creature. One that has been looked down upon, despite your friendliness." She brought her hand up to grab his then placed it on her heart. "Instead of talking, your actions give away your feelings." She looked over his expression, already knowing what he was trying to say. Then she led him to a mirror, and then stepped out of his vision. "Cloud, what do you see?"

Instead of an insect he saw what he truly was. He had been a wolf the entire time.

"Thank you, Tifa." He smiled at her, and then thought that maybe it wouldn't be so impossible to win over the swan.

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><p><em>So thank you for reading! Any comments are appreciated :)<em>

_Written on May 31, 2010_


	2. Cosplay

_(A.N.) This is another story I wrote about a year ago so please forgive any mistakes I missed while editing! I got the inspiration to write this while watching 'Aladdin'_

_**Disclaimer: Nothing from Final Fantasy belongs to me. **  
><em>

**Cosplay**

_By J._

_It's for the kids, _he kept saying to himself. It made him feel a _little_ better.

Cloud had already started to drink from the whiskey cabinet, where the pretty barmaid kept the expensive stuff. She wouldn't be happy with him. But she would be happy that he actually followed through. His lips went into what she called 'Cloud's brooding pout'.

_It's also for her, _he included in his mind.

He hadn't wanted to wear this idiotic outfit. Cloud didn't think anything of it when he was invited to Reeve's annual costume party, he was invited the past three years and he always went as himself. He never felt out of place. When Tifa suggested a costume he could wear he immediately said no, but the kids were in the room. The thought of the planet's hero in a costume set the kids off. He couldn't say no to the teary-eyed children. But he also didn't think that they were involved in the process of choosing his outfit for the evening.

The vest and baggy pants were enough, but Marlene screamed over the fact that he wasn't wearing the fez. The hero had also lost that battle. Underneath the fez was a dark wig that covered over his out-of-control blond spikes. He wasn't even allowed to hide in the comfort of his heavy boots. He _had_ to be bare foot.

He scratched the damn-itchy wig and the fez tipped over. If the costume wasn't a rental he would burn the hat afterwards.

The vest was the only thing that was covering his torso. Cloud already known the effect that he had on women, the first time one of them pressed herself to his arm and bat her eyelashes at him, he knew immediately that he was in trouble. He considered never showering again. And he knew that he was going to be stared at like a piece of meat with most of his chest showing. He further tried to conceal himself by wearing-a flesh colored- shirt, but of course, the kids wouldn't have any of that.

Tifa was brought into this too. But she didn't mind, it was her idea in the first place.

Cloud sighed again for about the millionth time that day. He was someone from the kid's favorite movie, Alex or Alfred or something like that. Tifa was the characters mate. That was the only part he didn't mind.

Cloud was exiled from the apartment. According to Marlene, he wasn't allowed to see Tifa until she was done. It was the only part of the night he was anxious for, not counting something that would happen later in the night if he behaved himself. He smirked at the idea, finding himself more excited.

His fantasy was interrupted when footsteps stampeded down the stairs, Marlene and Denzel appeared with grins on their faces. Then he heard another pair of footsteps, these ones were more hesitant. She appeared and Cloud became speechless. She was in a matching light blue outfit, she was wearing baggy pants like him, but she actually had shoes, no matter how ridiculous they were. But they looked cute on her. The top was more like a bra and it accented her-um- chest area. And underneath he could see the fading scar that was almost a decade old. It looked like her hair grew a few feet longer in the past hour, and it was brought into the same style she wear during their AVALANCHE days, except it was tied a few times more. He figured she had either a wig or extensions. And on top of her head was a head band that had a blue gem in the center with gold jewelry, which completed the ensemble.

She was stunning. It made going to the party dressed like he was bearable.

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><p>After being verbally abused by everyone he knew and the few he didn't, and after being hit on constantly when Tifa was in the bathroom for what seemed like forever, he finally got to unwind when a slow song came on the speakers. He fully prepared to sit down at one of the many tables Reeve had someone set up before the party, but no- Tifa had to grab his hand to drag him on the dance floor. He immediately planted his-bare-feet on the ground firmly. No <em>way<em> was he going to dance.

But the look Tifa had given him made him sigh. Knowing that she had won the battle, she grinned triumphantly and tugged his hand to lead- no, drag him to the center of the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on the bare flesh of her waist and they started to sway.

"Maybe you should actually dye your hair." Tifa teased as she played with the artificial hair that covered the back of his neck.

He grunted, knowing she was kidding.

"But seriously," she tried to bring her mouth into a serious expression but her eyes gave her away, "you should walk around without a shirt more often."

"You should walk around like this all the time." He said brushing his fingers over the curve of her waist.

She chucked. "Remember I used to? A few years ago? As I recall I wore _less_ clothing back then."

Cloud brought his head down to nuzzle the side of her neck. "Mmm." He actually memorized the exact way the clothes hung on her figure. The proudest day of his life was when he actually got to feel the fabric of that outfit when they were under the Highwind. "What happened to those clothes?"

She chuckled again, knowing his question wasn't serious, but she still wrapped her arms around his neck tighter. She shivered when he kissed the skin there.

He chuckled too, except his was more a hum. "It doesn't feel like I'm kissing you." He mumbled. Cloud brought his head to look at her in the eyes, confirming that it was actually his girlfriend he was with.

She smiled seductively. "How about I'll be Jasmine tonight, if you'll be Aladdin?"

Cloud didn't know who they were, but he agreed anyway.

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><p><em>So what do you think? Love? Hate? Let me know :)<em>

_Written on July 7, 2010_


	3. Taken

_(A.N.) So are you sick of me yet? This story just came to my head and I needed to get it down. I may add more to it, we'll see :)_

**Taken**

Everything was messy. Metaphorically and physically. It wasn't the usual neat-and-tidy approach like the boss like to put on. Papers were strewn everywhere, folders were knocked over from the organizer on his desk and his cabinets were wide open with papers haphazardly sticking out. It made Cloud smirk because he knew what transpired before he entered the room. Another woman was mad. Earlier he had strolled into the empty office and saw that his boss's door was wide open and he never- and when he says never, he means it- forgot anything. Usually the man is the first in the office and the last to leave, but when he arrives a little later than normal that means that he's decided to stay home to appease his wives.

His boss was a unique man: quiet, powerful, proud but not conceited, and was exceptional at everything he tried. But he was a polygamist, meaning he married more than once while remaining married to his previous wife or wives.

Cloud wondered how he could pull it off; it probably was hard enough to take care of one wife, why would you want all the mood swings, cry-fests and bitch-fits? Not that Cloud knew; he's been in love with one woman his entire life. It didn't bother him in the slightest, but it made gossipers among the office look at him in awe to hear that he never had a girlfriend. He learned at a young age not to listen to what other people would say.

Many people said that him and his boss were similar but Cloud didn't see it. The boss recently told him that he had taken on another wife. It was the fifth time in ten years. He didn't say much about her besides the fact that he met her a few months ago and he was going to marry her the next day. Yesterday must have been the wedding day, considering that his office was trashed, which probably happened from his jealous wives or perhaps it was one of the girlfriends he had.

"Looks like I'll have to do some re-organizing." The man with long shimmering silver hair walked in. He said this with out humor or anger, like he knew this was going to happen.

"Might cut into your honeymoon time, Sephiroth." Cloud observed as he looked over the room again with his hands in his pocket.

The boss didn't say anything else so Cloud took his leave and walked over to his cubicle area.

The younger man's childhood was something that he cared not to remember. After being teased about trivial things that held no meaning in the real world he chose not to care about anything. But one little girl with long hair and smiling dark eyes was something that he tried to remember, he tried to remember a time when he didn't see tears fill said eyes and have a look of misery upon her features.

Sephiroth Cresent's childhood was the opposite of his, from what he heard from rumors. He grew up on the upper plate of Midgar and his parents were diplomats or something important like that. But he had a taste for women; he constantly had one on his arm and he wasn't afraid to let anyone know he wanted them. Even though he had five wives he had countless girlfriends in different cities and different continents. It made Cloud wondered if he put anything in the ladies drinks to make them think nothing of his five wives. Last time he checked girls liked to be the only lover for their man. He just assumed those girls were weird like that.

Before Cloud could realize, it was almost his lunch break. Sephiroth was still in his office doing God knows what, and he still hadn't left for his honeymoon. Closing all his tabs on his computer he stood up and poked his head into his boss's office and wished him a good few weeks if he left before he got back and he quickly left. He enjoyed his hour off like any normal person would and he would be hard at work again once he came back. While walking towards the elevator and putting on his jacket- it was particularly cool for this time of year- he wondered if he should pick up a sub or a slice of pizza; maybe one with sausage and mushrooms. In front of the elevators he saw a petite figure with flowing brown locks; they curled slightly at the edge and memories flooded through him.

It was her; the girl from his childhood, the one he was in love with. Tifa Lockhart.

She was wearing a black trench coat that looked warm and a blue scarf that matched her gloves and the dress peeking out from the bottom of her coat. He lowered his eyes and noticed that her legs were exactly the same; they went on forever and was added a few more inches by the heels she was wearing. In a quick move she turned around- even though it seemed like she was going in slow motion to Cloud- and her hair moved with her swing. The look of lost on her face made her seem younger but he could tell she had aged far too well for his liking; her large eyes were the color of a fine red wine that he could only enjoy, her full lips were shaded to match her complexion, and her face grew leaner and far more seductive during the years. Instantly she knew she was being watched by him and she gave him a once over before giving him a look of 'who are you?' His feeling betrayed him and it made his heart ache to know she forgot about him. But then recognition crossed her features and she turned her body to face him better. For about a minute it seemed like his world stopped, and he felt like he should pull her into his frame and never let her go. Tifa gave him a look like she wasn't a hundred percent sure that he was actually in front of him right now and she quietly asked:

"Cloud?"

He dipped his head lower slowly in his way of nodding and he watched a smile bloom on her face. Considering their history he shouldn't be making her smile like that. She should be angry with him; yell, scream, or make him pay. She walked a little closer to each him and he watched as her tantalizing hair flew as she walked; something about her waist long hair made him want to tangle his fingers by her scalp and make her moan for him. Dangerous thoughts, Strife. The fact that she smelled nicer than he remembered did nothing to help his sudden desires.

"I can't believe it!" she pulled her purse strap further up her arm and made no attempt to touch him, which relieved and disappointed him. "How've you been? It has must of been years since you left Nibelheim." She reached down and began to take off her gloves.

He nodded and could feel a smile almost reach his lips "I-"

"Tifa." Cloud heard the familiar low voice from behind him and he was almost too afraid to turn around, in fear of is suspicions coming true. Sure enough, it was his boss walking into his field of vision and he wrapped his arm possessively around the girl of his dreams. "I see you've met one of my employees. Cloud Strife, this is Tifa Lockhart," he looked down at her left hand and his heart sunk when he saw a very large- and most likely expensive- rock, "well, Tifa Cresent now."

Cloud couldn't hear the rest of his introduction nor did he want to listen. All around him it seemed as if his world was shattering around him and he felt as if something was stuck in his throat and was cutting off his air supply. One second Sephiroth was giving introductions the next he was leading her away towards the elevator, no doubt taking her to her honeymoon. He could feel his heart thumping madly in his chest and he knew that he was about to be sick.

It was five years later and he finally knew how she was making him pay.

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><p><em>Let me know if you want more of this storyline :)<em>


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